Research on Eileen Chang’s Translation The Singsong Girls of Shanghai from the perspective of translator’s subjectivity

王靜

【Abstract】The Singsong Girls of Shanghai is the greatest late Qing Dynasty vernacular courtesan novel written in the Wu dialect. Research shows that in the English versions of The Singsong Girls of Shanghai Eileen Chang fully displays such traditional and modern factors as language， culture， artistic taste and life outlooks. Meanwhile， her choice of the translation strategy and method is a strong indication that the translators subjectivity does play a very important role in translation. Taking Eileen Changs translation of The Singsong Girls of Shanghai as a case study， this paper intends to research it from the perspective of translators subjectivity so as to get a general view toward Changs translating style and make a little contribution related studies in the future.

【Key words】The translators subjectivity The Singsong Girls of Shanghai； vernacular courtesan novel Eileen Chang

【摘要】《海上花列傳》是我國最早的一部吳語白話狹邪小說。相關研究表明，在翻譯《海上花列傳》的過程中，張愛玲充分顯示了其傳統與現代結合的語言、文化、藝術修養與人生觀、世界觀；與此同時，其對譯本翻譯策略和選擇彰顯了譯者主體性在翻譯過程中的作用。譯者在文學翻譯中發揮主觀能動性，是積極的實踐者和決策的制定者。本文擬以張愛玲譯作《海上花》為個案，從譯者主體性角度解讀這一文本，以期對其翻譯觀進行梳理。

【關鍵詞】譯者主體性 《海上花列傳》 狹邪小說 張愛玲

1. Introduction—The Translation of The Singsong Girls of Shanghai

Eileen Chang （1920-1995）， or Zhang Ailing， was a Chinese short story writer， novelist， essayist， and translator. Eileen Chang is regarded as one of the most acclaimed Chinese writers of the twentieth century. She translated many of her own works by infusing colloquial English into them， thus making her English translations stand out as independent creative works. The Singsong Girls of Shanghai， written by Han Bangqing （1856-1894）， is a novel about the life in Shanghai brothels of the late Qing Dynasty. Published in 1984 and made into a film in 1998 as Flowers of Shanghai， the novel is considered one of the greatest Chinese literature works.

2. The concept of the Translators Subjectivity

The process of translation is：the works created by the writer are translated by the translator and the target texts translated by the translator are read by the target readers. Three parties are involved in this process， namely， the author， the translator and the target reader. In the past， most studies or translation theories at home and abroad put their emphasis on the principles， standards， methods and the techniques of the translation. Under the traditional theories， the author and the source text took up the ruling position absolutely. They were regarded as divine subjects that could not be offended. In sharp contrast， the translator was reduced to be the passive receptor. Generally speaking， the translators subjectivity refers to the translators subjective in the translation process to realize his/her translation purpose. The essential characteristics of the translators subjectivity are the translators conscious or unconscious creativity in his or her cultural awareness， personal information， and aesthetic taste. The translators subjectivity is reflected not only in the translators understanding and rendering of the source text but also in his/her choice of the translation text， translation process as well as translation strategy and method.endprint

3. The translators subjectivity in The Singsong Girls of Shanghai

3.1 The selection of translation subject

Translation is often concerned with the selection of translation subject. Sometimes， the translator enjoyed great freedom in choosing what texts to translate. The translators choice of translation subject demonstrates his/her understanding and pursuit of translation purpose. It is especially true in the case of Eileen Chang as a famous writer translator. Over the years it has been generally agreed it is Eileen Changs role and status in her personal life that made her choose this novel to translate. 3.2 The translating process of the novel

In the process of translating the singsong girls of Shanghai， Eileen Chang did not make many adjustments to the structure of the source text， but only deleted the authors preface， introduction and the postscript. In order to avoid the obvious marks of the deleted parts and achieve a natural cohesion， she exerts great efforts to maintain the style and pace of these parts.

3.2 The translation strategy and method

Domestication and foreignization are two basic translation strategies which provide both linguistic and cultural guidance. There are a wild variety of viewpoints presented to be for or against domestication or foreignization are from different perspectives. In fact， both domestication and foreignization have their advantages and disadvantages， and both domestication and foreignization entail losses， as losses are inevitable in the translation process. In order to achieve a better translation， the translator ought to combine domestication and foreignization together， which is fully embodied in the singsong girls of Shanghai translated by Eileen Chang.

3.2.1 Mandarin translation

The target reader of the mandarin version are the modern readers at home. Therefore， Eileen Chang adopted a strategy that incorporate domestication and foreignization dynamically. She employed domestication to translate the dialogues in Wu dialect into modern vernacular version while remain the other parts as it is. Meanwhile， in translating the dialogues in Wu dialect， she comparatively reserved some of the dialogues in aspects of diction， sentence structure and mood by using foreignization in time. The following is an example.

3.2.2 Chinese-English translation

Eileen Chang also tactfully made a combination of domestication and foreignization in the English version of the singsong girls of Shanghai so as to satisfy the target readers demands. Not only did she reserve the Chinese language and cultural characteristics， but also took the target readers acceptability into consideration. 趙樸齋for Simplicity Zhao and 張小村 for Rustic Zhang are direct and obvious， as they are young and unsophisticated men whose personalities and lack of experience are central to their roles in the novel. 羅子富for Prosperity Luo and 馬龍池 for Dragon Ma indicate their circumstances in life。

4. Conclusion

This paper analyzed Eileen Changs translation The Singsong Girls of Shanghai from the perspective of translators subjectivity. Apparently， the subjectivity of the translator in the translation process is independent of our will.The translator Eileen chang as the subject of translation plays a decisive role in the translation activity. She just followed her heart to translate without overstepping the boundaries of translation principles. In turn the initiative of the translator Eileen Chang ensures the charm of the translation of the singsong girls of Shanghai.

References：

[1]Chang E.&E.Huang.2005，The Sing-Song Girls of Shanghai[M].New York：Columbia University Press（Original work published in 1894）.

[2]Venuti，L.2004.The translators invisibility- A History of Translation.Shanghai：Shanghai Foreign Language Education Press.

[3]Chen，Z.S.[陳子善].作別張愛玲[M].上海：文匯出版社.1996.endprint